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As Human Beings (as opposed to Heinz Baked...), it is in our nature to try and look the best, and to be the coolest. After all, being the one everybody loves makes you stronger amongst other people, thus giving you a certain amount of power that requires little strength. However, this also brings on a certain sense of paranoia that everyone else is secretly trying to better you. So you keep up to date with the latest fasions, make sure you're up to date with the latest trends, and stay clear of what is considered by the masses as 'uncool'.
You may be wondering what this has to do with gaming. And you'd be right to do so. You could even be forgiven for mistaking this for a psycology homework essay. But that is certainly isn't. It is very relevant to gaming and is what has shaped consoledom for the last decade or so!
Have you ever noticed that, one day, there is a videogame that is selling really well, and the next, it is being beaten in the charts by the next cool thing. This has happened very recently in the UK charts. First of all, Grand Theft Auto Vice City was released. It sold out on its first day in the shops! Still selling strongly, it has remained at the top for quite a while now. However, another game, The Getaway is released, promising Brits a Grand Theft Auto styled game set in London. Although initially selling very well, Vice City is still selling better as it is more 'cooler', American, and it features a lot of sexual references.
Ok, so that is how it is relevant to the newest titles, however, it still effects us with games from the past.
Many, many moons have passed since Pokémon made its Debut in the United Kingdom. At first, it was considered by the majority as the best gaming series ever, becomming the last Game Boy Original games to top the charts, despite the Game Boy Color already being out for a couple years. After the hype, caused by a well marketed Nintendo craze in Japan, people started playing other games again, and Pokémon wasn't so greatly talked about. Infact, many months after the release of Pokémon Yellow, the games that were once loved, were considered as 'crap' by those that had once loved it. And when Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal were released, many didn't even want to give it a try!
But did they really mean what they were saying? Was Pokémon really such a terrible game that they regretted turning on their Game Boys ages ago. Or was it the gamers themselves just continuing to be the 'coolest' guys and gals around by buying the game, playing it for a while until the hype dies down, then continuing the cycle by purchasing the next console craze? Most likely the latter.
The trouble is, years ago, people never actually thought like that and so, games could sell incredibly well for long periods of time. It is fair to say that most gamers who purchased a Super Nintendo in the past, owned, or if not, had some experience with a Nintendo Entertainment System before hand, and had plenty of opportunities to play the Super Mario Bros series.
Yet, Nintendo knowing this, the Super Nintendo was released with a Super Mario Allstars cartridge that contained all the NES Super Mario Bros titles, the only differences being slightly better sounds and visuals, and the addition of the previously unreleased Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels. At the time, it was unheard of, people complaining about ports that is. However, now, almost a decade after the release of the Super Nintendo, where many new generations of gamers have appeared, people seem to be complaining about Nintendo porting the same games again to the Game Boy Advance!
Is it that these games are suddenly bad because they're old? I don't think so (except for Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros 2). There is another reason behind the complaints (e.g. the want for a new Mario 2D platform game), but my point is, not everyone has had the chance to play these games before, but these people are being brainwashed to believe that these games aren't any good, and so, play them they wont.
Sega are hoping to break this cycle by releasing an update of their Sega Saturn disc 'Sonic Jam' on the Nintendo GameCube. Featuring every Sonic the Hedgehog MegaDrive game and with the addition of many others that can be unlocked, Sega are hoping Sonic Mega Collection will bring back fond memories from many retro-gamers, as well as win the hearts of the Mario loving N64 crew, so that if and when Sega start developing a new Sonic game for the GameCube, it wont flop.
You see, although many wont admit it, the older games are just as fun to play as the newer games! Sure, they may not have Dolby Surround audios and Nvidia-prouced visuals, but they make up for this with their playability that can't be beaten purely by newer technology. Games don't become rubbish just because they're not the most popular, though many make out they do without even thinking about it!
Enjoy your games, let them last for more than a month, and maybe you'll return to play them many a time in the future without regret.
You may be wondering what this has to do with gaming. And you'd be right to do so. You could even be forgiven for mistaking this for a psycology homework essay. But that is certainly isn't. It is very relevant to gaming and is what has shaped consoledom for the last decade or so!
Have you ever noticed that, one day, there is a videogame that is selling really well, and the next, it is being beaten in the charts by the next cool thing. This has happened very recently in the UK charts. First of all, Grand Theft Auto Vice City was released. It sold out on its first day in the shops! Still selling strongly, it has remained at the top for quite a while now. However, another game, The Getaway is released, promising Brits a Grand Theft Auto styled game set in London. Although initially selling very well, Vice City is still selling better as it is more 'cooler', American, and it features a lot of sexual references.
Ok, so that is how it is relevant to the newest titles, however, it still effects us with games from the past.
Many, many moons have passed since Pokémon made its Debut in the United Kingdom. At first, it was considered by the majority as the best gaming series ever, becomming the last Game Boy Original games to top the charts, despite the Game Boy Color already being out for a couple years. After the hype, caused by a well marketed Nintendo craze in Japan, people started playing other games again, and Pokémon wasn't so greatly talked about. Infact, many months after the release of Pokémon Yellow, the games that were once loved, were considered as 'crap' by those that had once loved it. And when Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal were released, many didn't even want to give it a try!
But did they really mean what they were saying? Was Pokémon really such a terrible game that they regretted turning on their Game Boys ages ago. Or was it the gamers themselves just continuing to be the 'coolest' guys and gals around by buying the game, playing it for a while until the hype dies down, then continuing the cycle by purchasing the next console craze? Most likely the latter.
The trouble is, years ago, people never actually thought like that and so, games could sell incredibly well for long periods of time. It is fair to say that most gamers who purchased a Super Nintendo in the past, owned, or if not, had some experience with a Nintendo Entertainment System before hand, and had plenty of opportunities to play the Super Mario Bros series.
Yet, Nintendo knowing this, the Super Nintendo was released with a Super Mario Allstars cartridge that contained all the NES Super Mario Bros titles, the only differences being slightly better sounds and visuals, and the addition of the previously unreleased Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels. At the time, it was unheard of, people complaining about ports that is. However, now, almost a decade after the release of the Super Nintendo, where many new generations of gamers have appeared, people seem to be complaining about Nintendo porting the same games again to the Game Boy Advance!
Is it that these games are suddenly bad because they're old? I don't think so (except for Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros 2). There is another reason behind the complaints (e.g. the want for a new Mario 2D platform game), but my point is, not everyone has had the chance to play these games before, but these people are being brainwashed to believe that these games aren't any good, and so, play them they wont.
Sega are hoping to break this cycle by releasing an update of their Sega Saturn disc 'Sonic Jam' on the Nintendo GameCube. Featuring every Sonic the Hedgehog MegaDrive game and with the addition of many others that can be unlocked, Sega are hoping Sonic Mega Collection will bring back fond memories from many retro-gamers, as well as win the hearts of the Mario loving N64 crew, so that if and when Sega start developing a new Sonic game for the GameCube, it wont flop.
You see, although many wont admit it, the older games are just as fun to play as the newer games! Sure, they may not have Dolby Surround audios and Nvidia-prouced visuals, but they make up for this with their playability that can't be beaten purely by newer technology. Games don't become rubbish just because they're not the most popular, though many make out they do without even thinking about it!
Enjoy your games, let them last for more than a month, and maybe you'll return to play them many a time in the future without regret.
First thing is about Pokemon. I must say I did enjoy Pokemon Red. It was good fun, and a good RPG. But I think it is slightly unfair to say all people who enjoyed it but didn't get the next titles were simply doing so because Pokemon was no longer 'cool'. When Pokemon Gold + Silver first came out in America, loads of people at my school were playing it on the school PCs using an emulator. I never really considered getting it simply because I'd played the original so much. I'd seen reviews of the game and pictures of the new Pokemon. The reviews seemed to say the game was pretty much more of the same, albeit with some new innovations, and the new Pokemon looked lacking in originality to me. Starting all over with level 1 beasts and collecting an even larger number of monsters simply didn't excite me. But of course I am sure a great many people didn't buy Pokemon games because they were no longer 'cool'...
Then onto the GBA Mario games. I think it is warranted to criticise Nintendo to some extent at least. No new Mario platform games have come out on the GBA. Nintendo have also re-released the Mario series before on the SNES, and granted, not everyone could play them back then. But the crucial point is that back then they were re-released as a bundle, and the SNES also got a number of new Mario platform games, not just the old ones. The SNES bundle would have cost you about Ł45-Ł50 (average price for a new game back then). The GBA games are Ł30 new. So to get Mario 2 and Mario World will cost Ł60, more than the SNES bundle cost, and that included all the Mario titles. You mention the Sonic collection on GC, and again, that is a bundle. Sega aren't stupid enough to release games from the best part of a decade ago at full price. They're putting a bunch of games all in one to give value for money. I think these re-releases were always going to appeal to gamers who remembered the SNES era and wanted to re-play some classics from that time, but many have been put off by the fact that they've played the games before and don't want to pay full price for them a second time. I'm not really sure about the image factor in this case... Mario isn't exactly the figurehead of gaming he used to be, but I wouldn't have thought people would consider the GBA itself very 'cool' either...
But yes, image does have a huge bearing on the games people buy and play. The example has been used time and again, but can you see GTA 3 being so popular if all 'adult' themes were removed but it had exactly the same gameplay...? And if Mario Sunshine was changed so the water pack was used in exactly the same way, but was a flame thrower, the main character changed to some female with huge breasts and little regard for public decency laws, and the enemies got burnt alive 'realistically' in a number of gruesome death scenes, then would people be arguing about the game being 'kiddie' and thinking they're too mature for it despite the fact the gameplay would reamin unchanged?
The gaming world is fickle, like all entertainment industries. Fads come and go, what's 'in vogue' today is out the window tomorrow. But to get any enjoyment out of the stuff you buy, you have to buy it because you like it, not because everyone else thinks you should like it.
Sorry, I seem to have written an essay. :-)
Then onto the GBA Mario games. I think it is warranted to criticise Nintendo to some extent at least. No new Mario platform games have come out on the GBA. Nintendo have also re-released the Mario series before on the SNES, and granted, not everyone could play them back then. But the crucial point is that back then they were re-released as a bundle, and the SNES also got a number of new Mario platform games, not just the old ones. The SNES bundle would have cost you about Ł45-Ł50 (average price for a new game back then). The GBA games are Ł30 new. So to get Mario 2 and Mario World will cost Ł60, more than the SNES bundle cost, and that included all the Mario titles. You mention the Sonic collection on GC, and again, that is a bundle. Sega aren't stupid enough to release games from the best part of a decade ago at full price. They're putting a bunch of games all in one to give value for money. I think these re-releases were always going to appeal to gamers who remembered the SNES era and wanted to re-play some classics from that time, but many have been put off by the fact that they've played the games before and don't want to pay full price for them a second time. I'm not really sure about the image factor in this case... Mario isn't exactly the figurehead of gaming he used to be, but I wouldn't have thought people would consider the GBA itself very 'cool' either...
But yes, image does have a huge bearing on the games people buy and play. The example has been used time and again, but can you see GTA 3 being so popular if all 'adult' themes were removed but it had exactly the same gameplay...? And if Mario Sunshine was changed so the water pack was used in exactly the same way, but was a flame thrower, the main character changed to some female with huge breasts and little regard for public decency laws, and the enemies got burnt alive 'realistically' in a number of gruesome death scenes, then would people be arguing about the game being 'kiddie' and thinking they're too mature for it despite the fact the gameplay would reamin unchanged?
The gaming world is fickle, like all entertainment industries. Fads come and go, what's 'in vogue' today is out the window tomorrow. But to get any enjoyment out of the stuff you buy, you have to buy it because you like it, not because everyone else thinks you should like it.
Sorry, I seem to have written an essay. :-)
As Human Beings (as opposed to Heinz Baked...), it is in our nature to try and look the best, and to be the coolest. After all, being the one everybody loves makes you stronger amongst other people, thus giving you a certain amount of power that requires little strength. However, this also brings on a certain sense of paranoia that everyone else is secretly trying to better you. So you keep up to date with the latest fasions, make sure you're up to date with the latest trends, and stay clear of what is considered by the masses as 'uncool'.
You may be wondering what this has to do with gaming. And you'd be right to do so. You could even be forgiven for mistaking this for a psycology homework essay. But that is certainly isn't. It is very relevant to gaming and is what has shaped consoledom for the last decade or so!
Have you ever noticed that, one day, there is a videogame that is selling really well, and the next, it is being beaten in the charts by the next cool thing. This has happened very recently in the UK charts. First of all, Grand Theft Auto Vice City was released. It sold out on its first day in the shops! Still selling strongly, it has remained at the top for quite a while now. However, another game, The Getaway is released, promising Brits a Grand Theft Auto styled game set in London. Although initially selling very well, Vice City is still selling better as it is more 'cooler', American, and it features a lot of sexual references.
Ok, so that is how it is relevant to the newest titles, however, it still effects us with games from the past.
Many, many moons have passed since Pokémon made its Debut in the United Kingdom. At first, it was considered by the majority as the best gaming series ever, becomming the last Game Boy Original games to top the charts, despite the Game Boy Color already being out for a couple years. After the hype, caused by a well marketed Nintendo craze in Japan, people started playing other games again, and Pokémon wasn't so greatly talked about. Infact, many months after the release of Pokémon Yellow, the games that were once loved, were considered as 'crap' by those that had once loved it. And when Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal were released, many didn't even want to give it a try!
But did they really mean what they were saying? Was Pokémon really such a terrible game that they regretted turning on their Game Boys ages ago. Or was it the gamers themselves just continuing to be the 'coolest' guys and gals around by buying the game, playing it for a while until the hype dies down, then continuing the cycle by purchasing the next console craze? Most likely the latter.
The trouble is, years ago, people never actually thought like that and so, games could sell incredibly well for long periods of time. It is fair to say that most gamers who purchased a Super Nintendo in the past, owned, or if not, had some experience with a Nintendo Entertainment System before hand, and had plenty of opportunities to play the Super Mario Bros series.
Yet, Nintendo knowing this, the Super Nintendo was released with a Super Mario Allstars cartridge that contained all the NES Super Mario Bros titles, the only differences being slightly better sounds and visuals, and the addition of the previously unreleased Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels. At the time, it was unheard of, people complaining about ports that is. However, now, almost a decade after the release of the Super Nintendo, where many new generations of gamers have appeared, people seem to be complaining about Nintendo porting the same games again to the Game Boy Advance!
Is it that these games are suddenly bad because they're old? I don't think so (except for Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros 2). There is another reason behind the complaints (e.g. the want for a new Mario 2D platform game), but my point is, not everyone has had the chance to play these games before, but these people are being brainwashed to believe that these games aren't any good, and so, play them they wont.
Sega are hoping to break this cycle by releasing an update of their Sega Saturn disc 'Sonic Jam' on the Nintendo GameCube. Featuring every Sonic the Hedgehog MegaDrive game and with the addition of many others that can be unlocked, Sega are hoping Sonic Mega Collection will bring back fond memories from many retro-gamers, as well as win the hearts of the Mario loving N64 crew, so that if and when Sega start developing a new Sonic game for the GameCube, it wont flop.
You see, although many wont admit it, the older games are just as fun to play as the newer games! Sure, they may not have Dolby Surround audios and Nvidia-prouced visuals, but they make up for this with their playability that can't be beaten purely by newer technology. Games don't become rubbish just because they're not the most popular, though many make out they do without even thinking about it!
Enjoy your games, let them last for more than a month, and maybe you'll return to play them many a time in the future without regret.
You may be wondering what this has to do with gaming. And you'd be right to do so. You could even be forgiven for mistaking this for a psycology homework essay. But that is certainly isn't. It is very relevant to gaming and is what has shaped consoledom for the last decade or so!
Have you ever noticed that, one day, there is a videogame that is selling really well, and the next, it is being beaten in the charts by the next cool thing. This has happened very recently in the UK charts. First of all, Grand Theft Auto Vice City was released. It sold out on its first day in the shops! Still selling strongly, it has remained at the top for quite a while now. However, another game, The Getaway is released, promising Brits a Grand Theft Auto styled game set in London. Although initially selling very well, Vice City is still selling better as it is more 'cooler', American, and it features a lot of sexual references.
Ok, so that is how it is relevant to the newest titles, however, it still effects us with games from the past.
Many, many moons have passed since Pokémon made its Debut in the United Kingdom. At first, it was considered by the majority as the best gaming series ever, becomming the last Game Boy Original games to top the charts, despite the Game Boy Color already being out for a couple years. After the hype, caused by a well marketed Nintendo craze in Japan, people started playing other games again, and Pokémon wasn't so greatly talked about. Infact, many months after the release of Pokémon Yellow, the games that were once loved, were considered as 'crap' by those that had once loved it. And when Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal were released, many didn't even want to give it a try!
But did they really mean what they were saying? Was Pokémon really such a terrible game that they regretted turning on their Game Boys ages ago. Or was it the gamers themselves just continuing to be the 'coolest' guys and gals around by buying the game, playing it for a while until the hype dies down, then continuing the cycle by purchasing the next console craze? Most likely the latter.
The trouble is, years ago, people never actually thought like that and so, games could sell incredibly well for long periods of time. It is fair to say that most gamers who purchased a Super Nintendo in the past, owned, or if not, had some experience with a Nintendo Entertainment System before hand, and had plenty of opportunities to play the Super Mario Bros series.
Yet, Nintendo knowing this, the Super Nintendo was released with a Super Mario Allstars cartridge that contained all the NES Super Mario Bros titles, the only differences being slightly better sounds and visuals, and the addition of the previously unreleased Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels. At the time, it was unheard of, people complaining about ports that is. However, now, almost a decade after the release of the Super Nintendo, where many new generations of gamers have appeared, people seem to be complaining about Nintendo porting the same games again to the Game Boy Advance!
Is it that these games are suddenly bad because they're old? I don't think so (except for Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros 2). There is another reason behind the complaints (e.g. the want for a new Mario 2D platform game), but my point is, not everyone has had the chance to play these games before, but these people are being brainwashed to believe that these games aren't any good, and so, play them they wont.
Sega are hoping to break this cycle by releasing an update of their Sega Saturn disc 'Sonic Jam' on the Nintendo GameCube. Featuring every Sonic the Hedgehog MegaDrive game and with the addition of many others that can be unlocked, Sega are hoping Sonic Mega Collection will bring back fond memories from many retro-gamers, as well as win the hearts of the Mario loving N64 crew, so that if and when Sega start developing a new Sonic game for the GameCube, it wont flop.
You see, although many wont admit it, the older games are just as fun to play as the newer games! Sure, they may not have Dolby Surround audios and Nvidia-prouced visuals, but they make up for this with their playability that can't be beaten purely by newer technology. Games don't become rubbish just because they're not the most popular, though many make out they do without even thinking about it!
Enjoy your games, let them last for more than a month, and maybe you'll return to play them many a time in the future without regret.